Want to register a complaint but fear going to the police station? Do not fret as the government is in the process ofintroducing a police station based computerised programme whereby one can register his complaints online, a seniorHome Ministry official said. Not only that, one can also monitor the progress of the case like seeing how far the investigation has gone and whether a chargesheet has been filed or not, among other such facilities.

"The erstwhile Computerised Intelligence Police System (CIPA) has been converted into Crime and Criminal TrackingNetwork System (CCTNS) in order not only to facilitate police stations in discharging their duties but also to try and make the sytem a little more citizen friendly," the official said.

She said the new sytem which had been given in-principle approval last year by Ministry of Home Affairs is also anattempt to improve the image of the police.

Explaining how the citizens would gain by the CCTNS, the official said, "The scheme aims at allowing the citizens to doonline registration of their complaints, to see how far investigations in their complaints have gone ahead and whether the chargesheet in the case has been filed or not." The Home Ministry official who is part of the team working on the implementation of the project said, "Our aim is to shortly provide internet connectivity to all police stations. Hence information on every case registered would be sent from the police station to district level, from district to state and state to Centre."

She said, "It is a very ambitious project which has been approved last year with an outlay of about Rs 2,000 crore andthe MHA is in the process of finalising the details."

The entire scheme is likely to be implemented by the end of 2010, the official said.

Meanwhile, talking about the Mega-City Policing System which is being implemented by the MHA, the official said it isbeing done as a sub-plan for police reforms.

The scheme which aims at making the local police as efficient and equipped as any other force in the world would bring under its ambit the seven big cities in the country -- Mumbai [Images], Delhi [Images], Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad [Images] andKolkata.